Congratulatory Shopping

If you don't have a child under the age of 5, you may not know that this is pre-school registration season. Charlie will be ready to start 2 year old preschool in the fall. I had done all the tours, and turned in all the applications. I had my heart set on a specific school but knew that the children are many and the slots are few.


The pre-schools around these parts send out their acceptance letters in early to mid February. Well, we got all the letters. And every single one of them said, "Thank you for your interest but you have been placed on our waiting list." I have been in a panic ever since. What if we can't get him into pre-school in the fall? Now I am not worried that missing out on two year old pre-school will prevent him from getting into college. I am worried that I will not get my two morning a week break! Momma needs a few mornings to herself!


Last night the phone rang a little after six. It was the director of my first choice school. I was at the top of the waiting list and there was availabilty. Was I interested? People, I would have driven to her house THAT INSTANT with my check. I took my deposit this morning, bright and early. I am SO excited. I really like this school and I was really worried we wouldn't get in at all. Now this!


So, needless to say this called for some shopping. I ran by a children's boutique that I knew was having a sale. I knew that it had been going on for awhile but thought I would check it out anyway. They didn't have much but what they had was 70% off.

This is a Le Top outfit for next Christmas for Charlie. I got it for $17.40.

These are cute pajamas for Charlie for next fall/winter. They were $13.20. So for $30 that's not bad!

GapKids was around the corner so I strolled through there. It's hit or miss with the GapKids in my opinion. For boys, the bigger the size the less cute the clothes get. But on their sale rack I found this:

It doesn't look as cute in this picture. It is a thin, navy sweater and the madras deer is not as pronounced as it looks here. It's very subtle. It also has grey elbow patches. It's super cute! It was marked down to $6.97 but when they rang it up it was $3.97! Score!

Mrs. Clean

This is what a seven year old boy's room looks like if left to his own devices:









Please note the "trail" that has been created so that one can get from the door to the bed without breaking a leg.

So yesterday this is what I did:

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I am hoping it will stay like this for more than a few days. However, in a week I am leaving on a girls trip to Mexico and The Husband will have the boys for four days so I am pretty sure it will be trashed by the time I get back.

Toddler Physics

Sorry for the lack of posts. A round of some kind of stomach thing had me laying down most of the weekend and then, oh boy, it was time to do the taxes. So it was a big weekend all around.



Anyway, I was printing out the completed taxes this morning and went to put shoes on the little one so we could go and run some errands. The front of his jeans were soaked. Wet from the waistband down to one knee. I sniffed. It was pee. Damn.



I did a quick check of the sofa but there were no wet marks. I took him to his room and discovered that the only thing wet was the front of his pants. His diaper was dry on the outside and pretty much on the inside. Shirt - dry. Sofa - dry. I checked the carpet, the train table - dry, dry.



This has happened before. Not so much with this one, but his older brother, when in diapers, seemed to have this happen every once in a while. I really don't get it. How in the world do they manage to pee either up out the top of the diaper or through a leg gap and not get pee on anything else? It defies logic.



After the magic poop incident I have to wonder: Are my children the only ones with magic bodily functions? Or is this everyone?

Some Gift Giving Advice

Last night I had to get a few things at the grocery store and I saw a grown man standing in front of the already picked over Valentine's gifts. He was clutching a large stuffed dog with sad eyes that was holding a little heart that said, "I Love U". I REALLY wanted to go over and say,"Put it back. Trust me. Candy. Flowers. Just not the dog." Then I realized that it was really none of my business. However, if you are reading this and just received that dog as your present....sorry, I just couldn't say it.

What is it with the stuffed animals at Valentine's Day?!? In my opinion, there is no day of the year on which a stuffed animal is an appropriate gift for an adult. I haven't thought a stuffed animal was a good present since I was six. I brought this up with The Husband when I got home from the store. He suggested that I might be the Valentine's Day version of The Grinch and that I probably would feel differently if someone bought me a stuffed animal. However, such is not the case.

In 8th grade, I was "going with" a boy named Tony. For Valentine's Day I received a card and ..... a stuffed teddy bear. Even in the 8th grade I was thinking, "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" Rest assured the relationship ended shortly after the bear incident. In 6th grade I was "going with" a boy named Scott* who got me three red roses.

Now you're talkin'.


*Scott and I did not last either. Without going into the gory details, our love did not survive the vicious rumors that were started during the school field trip to the movie Gandhi.

Now I Know My ABC's

Charlie is in love with ALL things Elmo. This is new for us as our older child never really cared for Elmo or Sesamee Street at all. He was a Bob the Builder man. But I digress.



For Christmas Charlie received this book:






Please note that it includes a "Companion DVD". That he is addicted too. He won't even watch regular Sesamee Street anymore. As soon as he sees Elmo or Cookie Monster (his second favorite) he starts screaming "GAA GEE". Which means turn the DVD on NOW. He wants to see the DVD not new episodes. He SCREAMS until you put it on. So usually I put it on. As soon as it ends he brings the DVD remote to me and yells, "AGAIN!" This is basically all that is on our TV if he is awake.

The DVD is about 15 minutes long and consists of back to back alphabet skits. So really it's 15 minutes of puppets singing, saying, jump roping and rapping the alphabet. It gets old. To be honest there is one segment that is sort of fun. There is a trio of pigs that are supposed to be like the Andrews Sisters, who do a big band boogie woogie version of the ABC's. It's so jazzy you just can't help but sing along! "A, Oink, B Oink, C Oink, D Oink, Oink Oink, EFG!" Maybe you have to hear it. I'm not saying I'm going to put it on my ipod or anything, I just like it.

Return to Sender

A shirt that I ordered from J. Crew arrived in the mail the other day and I ran upstairs to try it on. Hot on my heels was the 7 year old. Actually, he was hot on the heels of the package - he always holds out hope that every package will contain something for him. Anyway, I tried on the shirt and he immediately says, "It looks great, mom. It looks like one of those shirts you wear when you are pregnant."

I am returning the shirt.

***Update: After reading some comments I should probably clarify that this top did not have an empire waist, nor did it tie in the back! Here is the shirt. Now that I am reading the description, I think my problem is the "Back tuck for fullness" and the "flattering, U-shaped neckline" is apparently not flattering enough.

National Treasure: Book of Fashion

So the 7 year old LOVES the movie National Treasure II: Book of Secrets. I took him a week or two ago since we had seen every kids movie that was out and I was NOT about to sit through Alvin and the Chipmunks twice.

Sometimes it's tough to tell if movies that are PG are going to be appropriate or not. I tend to err on the side of caution. My favorite site to check for PG movies I'm not sure about is Common Sense Media. They tell you every single thing that might be objectionable in a movie. So even though they recommend it for 8 and up I was able to determine that the things that were concerns were things I knew my kid could handle. Seriously, if you have kids - bookmark this site - I use it alot.

Anyway, we went and he loved it. As soon as it was over he said, "We HAVE to get that on DVD!" When we got home, he immediately created his own treasure map, loaded up his backpack and enlisted the neighbor children to help him search for treasure. It was so cute.

So, this weekend he wanted to see it again. I agreed since I really wanted to get out (and I really wanted some popcorn). And you know what - Abigail's (the character who plays Nicholas Cage's girlfriend) clothes are adorable! Seriously, go see the movie just to see her cute clothes. Her coats are beautiful! Of course she wears a different coat with every outfit but they were gorgeous. The dress and coat she wears to the Easter egg roll at the White House - I want them.

And on a completely unrelated note, I have to tell you that my 7 year old never says "Listen to this" or just "Listen". He always says, "Hear this". I never have the heart to correct him because it always sounds so cute - like he's a little town crier or something. Oh and the baby - he's been barfing. So, yeah.